It was a lovely mild spring evening on Sunday, 2nd April when we all met at a Friend’s house for spiritual supper. Upon arriving at the house, we all immediately set about finding jobs we could do in the kitchen to get dinner going, and make tea and coffee for 18 young Quakers. We had chosen a hearty spinach and chickpea pilaf recipe which was both vegan and gluten free, and also delicious!

Once the cooking was underway, the ‘excess chefs’ headed into the living room to catch up and get to know our star guest, Paul Parker. Any intimidation we may have felt at meeting the recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting was immediately dissipated by Paul’s warmth and kind manner. While we waited for dinner to be ready, we all introduced ourselves, saying a few words on our relationship to the Society of Friends — often at our events, we do this by saying how much we each ‘Quake’ (we think we’re funny), and one Friend trying to say that he ‘occasionally Quakes’ accidentally coined the term ‘oquasionally’ which we all liked so much we adopted it for the remainder of the evening!

Next we tried our ‘hands’ at a clapping name game, which proved comically difficult to master. Thankfully, the house was soon filled with the scent of scrumptious spices and we all headed into the dining room to eat. We sat in small tables of four or five, which allowed us to get to know some of the newcomers better, and ended dinner with a brief shared silence.

Many friendly hands make light work, and after a speedy clean-up operation we all headed back into the living room to share our highlights of the week and begin the spiritual session. Our host lit some candles in the middle of the room which helped set the tone for contemplation, and the Friend leading the session introduced the reading. We focussed on QFP 26.30:

“What is love? What shall I say of it, or how shall I in words express its nature? It is the sweetness of life; it is the sweet, tender, melting nature of God, flowing up through his seed of life into the creature, and of all things making the creature most like unto himself, both in nature and operation. It fulfils the law, it fulfils the gospel; it wraps up all in one, and brings forth all in the oneness. It excludes all evil out of the heart, it perfects all good in the heart. A touch of love doth this in measure; perfect love doth this in fullness.”

Isaac Penington, 1663

Several Friends had perceptive insights to share on their reading of this beautiful passage, amongst some restorative silence. Once the session was closed, we ended the evening on a very happy note — sharing out some delicious chocolate Paul had generously brought along for us. It was a heart-warming and fun evening, and we really hope Paul joins us again some time for another of our spiritual suppers.

Joe and Jess

On Wednesday 15th March, the Nottingham Young Quakers gathered at a kind Friend’s house in Beeston, who had only recently moved in and had been desperately trying to get her kitchen ready for 12 Quakers to fill it. She had done a very impressive job!

Those with bikes were shown some very useful bike maintenance by Gordon, while food was prepared by the bikeless amongst us. The dish of the day was dhal, and I was introduced to “nutritional yeast” – which isn’t as bad as it sounds! Think vegan dried parmesan. I think there’s a reason I’ve never pursued a job in sales.

We discussed our highlights of our weeks, which ranged from Emily’s joy at taking multiple train journeys to my making a cut-out skeleton at work. Francis was introduced to the “not a cult” group and the usual offering of his first born child was made.

After a MASSIVE group effort of washing up and pan scrubbing, where we valiantly tried to save Helen’s pans from the scourge of burnt lentils, we held an epilogue to contemplate a famous George Fox quote:

Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your life and conduct may preach among all sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.

It taps into the idea of living a good life, and influencing people with your example, rather than trying to actively teach and preach.

We spent the remaining time discussing possible activities and dates for future meetings, and if you happen to have any please put them forward – all suggestions are welcomed!

Hannah

On the 10^th March, the Nottingham Young Quakers enjoyed one of our social evenings in Nottingham city centre. To kick the evening off, we visited one of our favourite restaurants, Nada Budaya. They serve the best Malaysian food Nottingham has to offer, and on this particular visit we came to the startling discovery that for the same price as a scoop of ice cream, one could get both a scoop of ice cream AND a banana fritter. Needless to say, banana fritters all ‘round!

We then headed down the street to Broadway Cinema for the Women’s Takeover and showing of the film 9 to 5. The event was hosted by two local organisations, Fan Club who promote female and non-binary musicians and creatives, and Reel Equality who screen films that challenge gender stereotypes.

NYQ have attended both Fan Club and Reel Equality events before, and they certainly did not disappoint this time: face glitter was enjoyed by all (except me who remembers the Glitter Beard Catastrophe of 2016), much singing and chatting occurred, and settling in to watch the hilarious 1980s triumph of three office workers (played by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and of course Dolly Parton) over their sexist boss over not one but two big screens (optimal neck comfort for all!) was a delight.

Adorned with Fan Club temporary tattoos (which for some reason only Tori and I remember from our childhoods, who knows what everyone else did with their youth) we left in high spirits. A lovely start to the weekend!

Laurie